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Tanglar
Tanglar was a black orc warlord who served Maynard Gautier. He is a major antagonist of Darkness Rising. Tanglar was killed in the Battle of the Morning on the Great Day when Trallten's Hounds defeated the Harbingers (1st Low-Spring, 2062 H.R.). Lore Undertaken by the hand of Sir Trallten, the Knight of Garrenwald, in love and gratitude to the heroes for whom he is the unworthy font of legend and name. A full treatise of the texts and discussions that helped this account emerge may be accessed at any time in the Royal Archives of the Silver Palace. I wish also to express my gratitude to Sir Piers Kaliman, of the Templar Knights, for contributing his boundless expertise on the Kingdom's enemies. May this treatise arm you before the final confrontations with that most potent of weapons - knowledge. "WANTED, BY THE ORDER OF THE KING: A lanky orc, in stained hides, who cares neither for the appearance of his body nor his garb. Wields a yew bow, taller than a man, and carries on his hip a quiver of black-feathered arrows. A smaller brace, on his back, is filled with red-feathered arrows which are drawn only to be loosed at his favorite prey: men. Dwarf-rings, doubtless taken from the slain, decorate both of his tusks." - Proclamation of the Templar Knights It was in the summer after I had reached my twenty-first year of age -youth!- that the Kingdom of Nalthand rallied to crush an upstart confederation of orcish tribes in the famed Marcher Wars. Even though, staggeringly, another twenty one years have passed, I will never forget the camaraderie that bound the young lords and knights of the Eastern Marches together in their first shared mustering. Sir Dellathin and I begged the honor of commanding the vanguard, full of youthful bluster having just earned our knightly spurs at the outset of the campaign; Duke Redmund was there, and his brother Niel, and the Lords Latrain, Alviss, and Jathen. If I would recently have mourned bitterly the loss of so many great men and the breaking of our fellowship, now I give thanks that myself and the Duke survived Maynard's rampage, and that those responsible for such foul murders and betrayals will soon join their victims in the quiet of the grave. The Wars themselves were fine fodder for the singers, and after several charges of the Nalthandian heavy horse the Host of the Marches had driven the orcs back to their homes in the Rootshale Mountains. The two tribes at the heart of the confederation, whose raiding and slaving had prompted our offensive -the Broken Teeth and the Rotting Hand- had already been shattered in pitched battle outside of Eltinkeep. So when Lord Alviss, he of the wise and gentle heart, requested that the remainder of the orcs be spared, Duke Redmund acquiesced and the final assault on the orcish caves never occurred. The surviving tribes kept on their way until making the mistake of rising against Nalthand a second time, at the behest of the Cult of Baalzebul in 2057 H.R., and were defeated and scattered once and for all after the Second Battle of Gnathburg and the collapse of their tunnels by the galeb-duhr. To our sorrow, an orc of the Broken Teeth survived to flee when his tribe was annihilated on the field outside Eltinkeep. Long he wandered, homeless and alone, deprived of comrades and chieftain and treasure, keeping only his hate for the humans that had obliterated his folk. But this he nurtured, and fed on many dark nights in a cold and empty world, until it had grown as thick, tangled, and foul as a poisonous weed of Asdathaa. After fifteen years, when a dark wizard from across the sea came to him and no doubt exclaimed, "These who have wronged you? They are my enemies as well; and I ''will have them destroyed", doubtless the orc thought, ''"Yes." It was easy for Tanglar, then, to imagine that he was caught up in a grand crusade of revenge, and that the Harbinger schemes -which he would help to bring about- were a devastating genocide against the humans that had so wronged him. Never mind, in the end, that the orcs would be just as thoroughly obliterated. Those who are driven only by vengeance, that most consuming of obsessions, are well-practiced at closing their eyes to the true account of their actions, seeing only the fulfillment of their most hateful yearnings. In time, the only emotions that matched these in intensity were the loyalty and dedication to the man that would fulfill them. When Maynard finally turned his pawns loose -for that, rather than champions or retainers or vassals, is exactly what they were and remain- Tanglar took up the hunt of humans as the dearest of his heart's desires. The full list of his victims in the dark years which we are now leaving will take some time to be fully known. But surely he cherishes his role in the Black Betrayal, when his arrows slaughtered Deauchalt knights and men-at-arms alike on the Norton Road; and when he slew Jatherd Corbett, gentle farmer of Nalthand, who was the first to swear allegiance as retainer to Sir Gram when the House of Gomeric was reborn. Tanglar celebrates the killing of two noble Marcher knights of the realm with, especially, the foul and unchivalrous attack on Sir Dellathin Brentley, at his moment of victory in the duel with Uttaurak, as the crown jewels of his revenge. After all, Sir Dellathin had been at the heart of his tribe's defeat all those years before. Doubtless, the deaths of Alviss, Niel, and Jathen, as well as Redmund's disgrace -all at the hands of Manyard's plots- warmed his foul heart. But Tanglar murdered others with less storied names. He slaughtered Norden's scouts in the ambush that took the life of the grizzled old ranger, and his deadly aim claimed the lives of many bold lizardfolk warriors in the fighting in Asdathaa. It was Tanglar's arrows that were discovered in slain goblins, left at the site of his attacks on caravans in the North, in an attempt to discredit the peace with Melthar. Even the Savage Peoples of the Pawn Horde, who were left leaderless when they were abandoned by Uttaurak and Tanglar and marched straight into Asdathaa to be annihilated by the lizardfolk, are casualties that can be laid to some degree at his feet. Although the oft-quoted chivalric wisdom that it is the coward's weapon that kills from afar is doubtless a product of lordly bias, in this case the axiom is proved true. Tanglar is as craven as he is treacherous. He will, above all else, attack Nalthandian humans, especially those of the noble classes that he so detests; his red-feathered arrows of slaying, coupled with his long training at hunting men, mean that few of his victims have ever gotten close enough to force a retreat. Tanglar has also trained extensively to hunt dwarves, as the oldest and truest allies of the Children of Harrin. If you take young Ahane with you to Oblivion's Citadel -for surely he will beg the honor- be certain that the youthful warrior is restrained either in thought or in deed, for although he burns to avenge his father with the heart of a loyal son, nothing would please Tanglar more than finishing off the Corbett line once and for all. Statistics Tanglar: Male orc Rgr20; CR 20; Medium humanoid (orc); HD 20d10+80; hp 194; Init +10; Spd 30 ft.; AC 33, touch 25, flat-footed 33; Base Atk +20; Grp +27; Atk +32 melee (2d4+15/18-20, falchion) or +38 ranged (1d8+13/19-20, x3, Bitter Memory); Full Atk +32/+27/+22/+17 melee (2d4+15/18-20, falchion) or +38/+33/+28/+23 ranged (1d8+13/19-20, x3, Bitter Memory); SA favored enemy (human +10, dwarf +8, elf +6, halfling +4, gnome +2), wild empathy; SQ camouflage, darkvision 60 ft., evasion, hide in plain sight, light sensitivity, swift tracker, woodland stride; Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; AL CE; SV Fort +23, Ref +27, Will +16; Str 24, Dex 31, Con 19, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 6. Skills and Feats'':' Hide +33, Knowledge (geography) +25, Knowledge (nature) +27, Listen +30, Move Silently +33, Search +25, Spot +30, Survival +26; Dodge, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (longbow), Improved Precise Shot, Iron Will, Manyshot, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Track, Weapon Focus (longbow). 'Animal Companion (Ex):' ''Wrath: ''Monster Manual'', p. 63-64. ''Spells Prepared ''(4/4/4/3; save DC 13 + spell level): 1- charm animal, entangle, hide from animals, longstrider; ''2-'' barkskin ''(3), spike growth; 3- ''greater magic fang ''(2), ''plant growth ''(2); 4- ''animal growth, cure serious wounds, tree stride. '''''Possessions: Amulet of health +6, arrows of slaying ''(50 human, 25 dwarf), ''Band of the Inner Eye ''(+6 Wis, +4 Spot/Listen, cannot be caught flat-footed or flanked), ''belt of giant strength +6, Bitter Memory ''(+5 ''anarchic distance humanbane composite longbow +7), boots of speed, bracers of armor +8, cloak of resistance +5, elixir of hiding ''(2), ''elixir of sneaking ''(2), ''+5 falchion, gloves of dexterity +6, headband of intellect +6, ring of protection +5, tusk-bands of greater archery. Category:Orc Category:Neutral Evil Category:Ranger Category:Deceased Category:Character